I've Got Other Plans, That Don't Involve You & Me
by Miss-J'x
Summary: As Careers, they hold winning the games dear to their hearts. What happens when Cato and Glimmer realise there might be something more than friendship between them? Can one of them win knowing the other has to die? A Cato/Glimmer story. Now Rated M. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, please," I laughed as Cato pulled the red hot end of his sword from the fire and spat on it, satisfied at the small sizzling sound produced by his rather disgusting actions.

We were at the base of a tree containing that stupid district twelve 'fire girl', or whatever her stupid name was. I wondered how it would feel to actually watch her burn, the thought filled me with pleasure and I shivered with longing. It had been a full day since any blood had spilled on any of our hands. They were itching with desire. I twirled one of my blonde pigtails around my finger, glancing sideways at Cato who was still prodding the fire with his sword. We were bored waiting for district twelve to come down from the tree, she could be up there for days for all we knew. I had a feeling that Clove would be up that tree by morning if the girl was still up there, her patience wasn't a strong point, but maybe this was one time where we could appreciate that about her.

Marvel, my district partner, was off collecting fire wood, along with the boy from twelve who had been helping us find his own district partner, but I was skeptical of whether he had actually lead us to her, or whether we had come across her by chance. Oh well. Now that he had done what we needed him to, we could kill him. Or rather, Cato could kill him. He'd already claimed the honours, and we all knew better than to argue.

My legs were beginning to fall asleep from sitting still too long, I needed to move, so I stood slowly, stretching my arms out. We were in for a long night. I was already exhausted, the adrenaline that accompanied a good kill was slowly wearing off, leaving me with a feeling of heavy fatigue. I slipped a knife into my belt, just in case, and headed a short distance in to the woods, needing just a few minutes to myself. Watching Cato stabbing the fire, and Clove throwing knives at wildlife, was mind numbing. I needed action, boredom was my worst enemy.

What I wouldn't give for a hot shower, and my own bed. Hell, I'd settle for a blanket at this point. The arena was so darn cold at night, I could literally feel my body freezing. Most nights I couldn't feel my toes, my fingers, or most of my face. My back ached from sleeping on the cold, hard ground. When they'd told us in training that exposure could kill as easily as a knife they hadn't been kidding. Even the fire we lit didn't provide much warmth against the frosty air, whatever the gamemakers were doing with the weather was cruel and unusual punishment.

I heard a stick crack a few metres away, and leapt to my feet, gripping my knife close to my chest.

"Glimmer, chill the hell out, it's just me."

Cato. Sexy, strong, powerful Cato. My type of guy.

"Why'd you follow me?" I asked, a small smirk playing on my lips. Cato and I had been flirting since we first laid eyes on each other at the opening ceremony. Harmless flirting, really, since neither of us was in any hurry to admit that we liked each other. At least, I think he likes me, it's hard to tell as he so easily changes from flirty Cato to obnoxious, sexist Cato.

He shrugged, before answering me, "I wanted to make sure you're okay. Didn't know if you would be able to look after yourself out here alone." So it was sexist Cato tonight. Wonderful, just bloody wonderful.

"I'm more than capable of looking after myself, so if you'll excuse me..." I muttered angrily, attempting to storm past him back to camp. I'd tried flirting with this Cato, but mostly it was a waste of time, and completely tiresome. Plenty of guys would actually kill to be at the receiving end of my flirting, but not Cato. At least, not all of the time.

I pulled up short when he grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop, and when he spoke his voice had lost the patronising tone he had all but perfected, "Hey, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

Wow. That was a quick change. Keeping up with Cato's moods was dizzying. I'd never even met a girl with as many mood changes as Cato. I just didn't understand why he was so back and forth with his emotions. Was it so hard to just be honest with himself?

I sighed, deciding to let it go, so I smiled, and replied in a light, flirty tone, "Good, 'cause I'd hate to have to prove it to you."

"Prove what to me?" Cato challenged, smirking as he took a step closer to me.

Shivering at the close proximity of our bodies, I flashed a knowing smile, before answering him, "My ability to look after myself."

He laughed loudly, startling any nearby wildlife, and took another step towards me, his chest practically brushing against mine.

I put my hands on his chest, trying to push him away, half-joking, half-seriously trying to prove my strength to him, but he, of course, didn't even budge. He had strength in his favour, along with his size. He was buff, muscular, and tall. I was thin, petite and dainty. What we did have in common was our ability to kill. Ruthlessly, viciously. Our longing for each other. Our drive to win the games, regardless of the consequences.

His hands found my waist, and he rested them on my side lightly brushing them up to sit under the hem of my shirt. I trembled under his touch, my hands sliding up his chest to rest on his shoulders. I glanced up, looking into his baby blue eyes, clouded with desire. I raised myself up on tiptoe to close the gap between my lips and his, and saw him duck his head towards me. We were so close. So close to sealing our bond. But a crashing in the surrounding woods broke us apart, Cato pushing me behind him, to protect me as he drew his sword. But it was Marvel. Brilliant timing, Marvel.

"What are you guys doing? We're going to eat..." Marvel started to speak, but looked as though he realised he had interrupted something so he trailed off.

Cato was quick to cover our tracks, "Glimmer went for a walk, and I just came to make sure she was okay. You never know with these girls."

Marvel chuckled, obviously he agreed that I was weak. Jerk. I would show him the first chance I got just how long I could draw out his death, in the most painful way possible.

"Come on, the anthem will be on soon," Cato spoke, and we followed Marvel back towards camp. I hadn't realised before how far I had walked, but it took almost five minutes before we broke through the clearing that led back to the tree.

"About time! I'm starving!" Clove exclaimed loudly, handing out chunks of bread, and beef strips, just as the seal appeared in the sky. No deaths. So no one else had killed anyone. More blood for the rest of us to spill. The thought was oddly exciting.

We ate in silence, most of us too tired to be able to come up with intelligible conversation. Besides, Clove was not much of a chatterbox unless she was describing how she would kill you if she got the chance, which was slightly frightening, and Marvel was too dim-witted to say anything interesting at the best of times. None of us had anything to say to lover boy, what he had nicknamed the boy from twelve, now that we had found his girlfriend. He'd probably be dead by this time tomorrow. Maybe Cato would let me help, I was handy with a knife.

"I say we get some sleep, she's not coming down tonight, we'll deal with her tomorrow," Cato announced once we'd all eaten, and no one argued, everyone needed a good nights sleep. Especially with what we had planned for the following day; annihilating district twelve, both of them.

Clove stretched out first, gripping her knife in her hand, the way she always slept, and pulled her jacket tighter around her tiny body. It was beyond cold by this point, even with the fire. Lover boy fell asleep next, his face pointed to where his district partner was perched in the tree.

"I'll go get some more wood for the fire first," Marvel offered, heading off into a patch of trees only a hundred metres away, our stockpile of wood was growing increasingly smaller, and we would definitely need the warmth of the fire to make it through the night without turning into human icicles.

Cato spread out a safe distance from the fire, lying on his back with his head resting on his hands, staring at the stars. I couldn't help but keep glancing at him, wondering what would have happened had we not been interrupted earlier. Would he have kissed me? I thought so, but with Cato... you could never really tell what he was going to do. He looked back up at me, a smile on his lips, the moon washing his face with a pale light.

Marvel returned, throwing some wood on to the pile, and laid down near Clove. He was asleep in moments, his heavy breathing the indication that now Cato and I were close enough to alone. Could we maybe continue where we left off? I wasn't going to make the first move. Yes, I was a flirt, but I also liked to be pursued rather than be the pursuer.

"Aren't you tired?" Cato's voice broke into my daydream, and I jumped slightly, hoping he hadn't seen. I was still sitting up against the tree, whereas everyone else had already settled for the night.

I shook my head, before whispering back, "I'm exhausted, I just don't know if I can sleep."

"Why?" Cato inquired, pushing himself up on to one elbow to get a better look at me.

I shrugged, "It's cold, and the ground is hard."

Cato laughed quietly, "You're such a girl. Sometimes I find it hard to believe you're actually a career!"

He wasn't laughing a second later when I launched a rock at his head, missing by mere inches, "Sorry, sorry," he was quick to apologise now.

Cato patted the ground next to him, and he was on the softest part of it, "Come over here."

"Why? You don't think I need protection through the night, surely?" I smirked as I put on a strong facade.

"Maybe I do," Cato teased back, also smirking at me. Some girls may find his smile charming, for me his smirk was my undoing. I found it utterly irresistible.

"Oh, in that case..." I was flirting for all I was worth, perfecting my lash fluttering, my seductive face, the way I sauntered over to him, even the way I settled down next to him.

"Hey," he whispered as I lay down and rolled over to face him.

I smiled, and replied in a breathy whisper, "Hey yourself."

Try as I might, I couldn't stop shivering. The temperature seemed to be dropping by the minute, and I could see every breath become a cold frost in front of my face.

Cato noticed, and leaned over to speak quietly, "Big spoon or little spoon?"

"Huh?" I tried to work out what he meant, but really couldn't think of what it might mean.

He looked surprised, "You've never spooned?"

Of course I had. What the hell, "Duh."

"Big spoon is outside, little spoon is inside." He explained like it was the most simple thing in the world, the smirk on his face growing just as fast as the temperature was dropping.

Oh. Well, of course. Silly me.

"Little spoon," I replied, smiling flirtatiously.

"Roll over," he ordered, and I turned to face the base of the tree, feeling his warm, strong arms wrapping around my waist, his chest pressed into my back, his face nuzzling into my neck.

It was amazing. So amazing. I could lie like this forever. I felt... safe. Warm. Content. Strange feelings for where we currently were, for what we were here to do. For the fact that at least one of us would die. But that was irrelevant, at least for now. Right now I wanted to focus on this moment. This moment curled into Cato.

"You okay?" His breath tickled my ear as he pressed himself closer to me.

"Wonderful," I let out a breathy sigh, "You?"

"Same," his lips pressed against my neck, and it took a lot of willpower to control my urge to roll myself on top of him, and take advantage. Not that he'd resist, that I'm sure of.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke with a start very early the next morning, the sun was bright and fighting to remove the chill and the frost that had settled over everything during the night. It took just a moment for me to realise where I was, in the arena. But why wasn't I in the sleeping bag I'd claimed at the very start? Why was I near a tree? Oh. Right. Fire girl. I glanced up but couldn't make her out in the high branches of the tree. A quick look around proved that everyone else was still deeply asleep, even Cato who I noticed was still right beside me. A smile spread across my face as I remembered what had taken place the night before, and I snuggled back into his arms allowing sleep to draw me back under to a dreamy place in my subconscious, involving just the two of us, in a place where we could never be interrupted.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and then a deafening buzzing noise, it took two or three seconds for everyone to wake up and realise that we were in a lot of danger; a tracker jacker nest had been dropped right in our camp. That we needed to run. NOW.

Being closest to the nest gave me a distinct disadvantage, and I couldn't concentrate on making my feet take me away from here over the screaming coming from someone. I wished they would shut up. Three stings, four. Then I realised that I was the one screaming. The noise pouring from within my very core.

Clove had taken off running immediately; she didn't care about anyone else. She would probably have been relieved to see our swollen, poison filled bodies lying motionless here. But I refused to give in that easily. Marvel followed Clove in the direction of the lake, but he tripped, and the swarm covered him. There was nothing I could do for him. Would I if I could anyway? I wasn't sure. More stings, more pain. Searing pain. Clove had come running back to drag Cato away, and our eyes locked as he glanced back at me. Me trying my best to run, but being unable to move very fast, the poison from the stings already muddling my mind. I could barely move one foot in front of the other. I was dead. What a stupid way to die. Outsmarted by a district twelve tribute. I was ready to lie down and wait for death to take over, then I heard crashing coming towards me. Cato. Or, three of Cato was what I saw. Then one Cato. I felt the ground being moved from under me as he cradled me close to his chest and ran. I must have blacked out here as I don't remember what happened until I opened my eyes what felt like weeks later.

The morning light had been replaced by twilight, all my joints were stiff, screaming in protest at their lack of movement. Swollen lumps covered my arms, my face, my neck. I sat up, wincing as I tried hard not to pass out again. I was dizzy. So dizzy.

Where was Cato? Clove? Did Marvel die, or did I imagine the canon that boomed as I was on the verge of unconsciousness. Did lover boy survive too? And if he had, was he still among the living, or had Cato taken matters into his own hands? I had so many questions. My mind was desperately trying to clear itself.

First things first, I needed water, maybe food.

One slow step at a time, I made my way out of the tent I was in, and walked outside. Cato and Clove were warming by a fire, eating something, I wasn't sure what.

"Glimmer!" Cato sounded so surprised, why? Had he just been waiting for me to die?

I shook my head slowly, trying to clear it, "What happened? Where is everyone else?"

"Sit down, have something to eat," Cato deliberately ignored my request for information. He'd better not become patronising Cato, 'cause I was not in the mood for that again.

"I want to know what happened," I tried to keep my tone from picking up on the frustration I felt, previous experience had told me that this was the quickest way to earn a one way ticket to jerk-ville, population; Cato.

Cato sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat, "Marvel's dead. Lover boys dead. You were out for two days, we didn't know if you'd ever wake up."

Marvel was dead, so I hadn't imagined the canon. And lover boy. Interesting. I kind of wanted to help with that one. Stupid tracker jackers ruining everything.

"And fire girl?" If she was still alive, her blood was mine for dropping that nest on our camp.

Cato shook his head, "Still alive. But we'll get her, just you wait."

I grinned sadistically, "Can't wait."

A couple of hours later I was trying to remove the stingers from each of the lumps, they surely wouldn't heal until the stingers were out. They were just like splinters, and I hated splinters. I just couldn't bring myself to pull them out, even though I knew I really didn't have a choice.

"Need some help?" Cato asked, sitting down beside me. If he thought I couldn't look after myself, why didn't he just kill me already? I was sick of the way he spoke to me like I was weak. But then, he'd just have to smirk and I'd forgive him for just about anything.

I shook my head, "Got it covered."

"Really?" He obviously didn't believe me.

"Yes," my temper was short, I didn't need him watching over my shoulder, making sure I was capable of pulling the stingers out.

I suddenly felt his rough hands brushing around my neck, and a soft moan escaped my lips before I could stop it. He was smirking, I knew this without even looking at him. Then I felt sharp pain as he pulled two, three, four stingers out. "You jerk! What the hell was that!"

"Just trying to help," he shrugged, but we both knew he'd done this just to push my buttons. And push my buttons he had.

I was furious, seething, "Just leave me alone, Cato!" When he was finally out of sight, I pulled out every other stinger in a fit of fury. God, that boy was good at irritating me. But he was just so charming, I couldn't help but long to have him. Love-hate, that was what we had. And right now the balance was tipped more towards the latter.

"Your face doesn't look as messed up," Clove commented as I re-joined her and Cato by the fire. This was about as close to a compliment that Clove could ever give. Especially to me.

I glared at her, not in the mood to play happy families with these two. Not after what Cato had done. I untied my hair, combing it out with my fingers, pulling out twigs and leaves, before braiding it back up. Anything to provide a distraction from the turmoil I was feeling inside me. Cato moved to sit next to me, brushing my thigh with his hand gently, and I tried hard to move away, but I just didn't have the willpower.

He reached up to brush a lock of hair off my forehead, smiling as he whispered in a low voice,"You look more like you now."

I had to return that smile, I just had to. "Thank you."

Clove rolled her eyes at the affection between us, "Get a room would you? Geez. Just keep it down, I need sleep." Then she strolled off to her own tent, muttering a lot of nasty things as she went. I couldn't catch any of it, which was probably for the best.

I laughed at her little outburst, jealousy was never a good look for anyone, least of all on Clove. I had the one up on her, and that made my earlier bad mood disappear. Obviously she knew Cato liked me. Poor Clove, no guy could like such an arrogant, sadistic person. I was arrogant, I was sadistic, but, unlike Clove, I had many other qualities, which was probably the biggest difference between the two of us.

I glanced sideways at Cato, his hand still on my thigh, his blue eyes clouded with longing as he looked back at me. He laughed quietly, and leaned down to whisper right in my ear, "So, should we get a room?"

Not a bad idea, really. But I wasn't going to give in to him that easily. I smacked his arm lightly, pretending to be shocked, "Cato!"

He leaned down closer, pressing his lips to my neck, sucking gently at my pulse point. The moan that escaped my lips was almost embarrassingly loud, but in the moment, I couldn't care less. Did I have the inner strength to stop this going much further? Probably not. When Cato wanted something, he got it, no matter what. Not that I didn't want this either. I just wanted it to be different. Maybe to mean something more.

I felt my face cupped in his hands, our lips meeting for the first time in a frenzy of desire. Both of us fighting for dominance, I was more experienced but he was more powerful, so it was he who took control, moving my lips from a heated battle into a slow, gentle rhythm, my lips parting to allow his tongue entrance, not even bothering to fight for control this time. I was too busy trying not to melt into his arms. He must have noticed my inability to support myself any longer, and pulled me on to his lap, straddling his legs, my arms winding around his neck, playing with the soft hair at the base of his neck.

Suddenly I pulled back, a question was burning at me, and I had to know the answer right now, "Cato? Why did you come back for me?"

"I didn't think you remembered that," he began, not really answering my question as he pushed a piece of hair behind my ear, then continued, "I didn't want you to die."

"One of us has to die, Cato. You could have left me there, and it would have been one less person for you to have to kill later," I brushed his cheek gently with my hand, trying to draw the answer out of him.

"I won't kill you, you're the one person here that I care about. I wasn't going to leave you there to die, Glimmer," he whispered so softly I had to lean in to hear him.

He saved my life, risking his life in the process. Wow. That was just so out of character for Cato that it took me a moment to absorb what he had told me.

"Thank you," I whispered back, pressing my lips to his again, and when he scooped me up to carry me to the tent, I didn't resist.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh my God! You didn't!" I woke to the sound of Clove shrieking as she peered into the tent, finding Cato and I snuggled up in a single sleeping bag. We were both fully clothed, thanks to the frostiness of the night air, but for some reason she knew. And she wasn't impressed. Oh well. None of her business, but knowing Clove she'd make it her business one way or another.

Cato shrugged, smirking as he replied to her accusation, "It was your idea, Clove. Remember, 'get a room, but keep it down'? Well, we did both of those things, that is if the tent counts as a room."

"Shut it, you dirty sleaze," Clove snarled, then turned to me. Uh oh. "I assume you think that you mean something to him now, right? Well, think again, Sparkles. He used you, and now he'll just toss you out with the trash until he finds another girl to get into bed. See, Cato likes the chase. Once he's caught you, he's finished. So good luck with that."

"What the hell, Clove? Get out of here!" Cato snarled back as he sat up and grabbed his sword from where it had been discarded with his clothes the night before. Surely he wasn't going to kill her. And was what Clove had said true? Oh man. I may have made a big, big mistake.

Clove shot both of us a nasty look before turning on her heel and disappearing outside. Probably for the best. Cato was beyond angry. I'd never seen him look so dangerously lethal. "That little bitch! I'll teach her to say stuff like that about me!"

"Calm down, Cato. Killing her won't achieve anything. We need her help finding that idiot from twelve," my voice was on the verge on cracking as as both confusion and regret threatened to take over. But I managed to keep my tone neutral, I could talk to Cato when he wasn't holding his sword like he wanted to kill everyone, and everything. Me included if I pissed him off enough.

Cato started pacing back and forth, swearing and cussing about Clove, "I swear it'll make me feel better..."

"Even so, I don't particularly want her blood on my hands, at least not yet. Look, where would that have come from anyway? It was almost like she was jealous or something..." I said softly, wrapping my arms around my knees and looking up at him through my lashes.

Cato sat down facing me, "I think there's something you should know, Glimmer."

Oh no. No, no, no.

"And what is that?" Neutral tone, don't panic. Yet.

He hesitated, taking a deep breath, "Promise me you won't freak out, you'll let me explain."

I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"On the way here, on the train, and when we were at the training centre, Clove and I were sleeping together..." he began, and I was literally biting my lip in anger to prevent myself from indeed 'freaking out' before I'd heard all he had to say. I could taste blood, and strangely it calmed my senses.

Cato judged my reaction before continuing quickly, "But then I met you. And I ended whatever it was she and I had, and needless to say, she didn't take it well. She was nothing more than a comfort item, I promise."

"And what am I? Another 'comfort item'? A convenience? My God, Cato! How could you? How could you do that to me?" I screamed the words at him, overcome by many different feelings; hurt, confusion, regret, understanding... and even jealously. Of Clove. She'd slept with him before I had.

"Glimmer, stop! Stop it! I wasn't even going to tell you, but I wanted you to know. I care about you, okay?" He was shouting back, holding my wrists in his hands too tightly, trying to force me to listen. But how could I trust him now?

I pulled my wrists out of his grip, rubbing the circulation back into my hands, knowing my wrists would bruise, and turned away, tears welling in my eyes, whether they were from hurt or sadness I didn't know. "I- I can't do this, Cato." And I turned and walked away. It was probably one of the hardest things I'd ever done.

Clove was sitting outside, seething with anger, probably at the fact that Cato had threatened her with his sword. Maybe she was upset because they were district partners, and yet he'd chosen me. Most likely it was jealousy. She looked up as I stormed past her, "At least now you know the truth." No hateful words, no insults, just that. Wow. She could have said so many things, and yet she kept it simple, to the point, nice even. For Clove, anyway. For the first time, since I'd met her, I didn't have an almost uncontrollable urge to kill her. Well, I'd probably still kill her, but I'd probably rather kill Cato right now. Progress, progress. Maybe Clove was the one to keep on side. Actually, no. She'd probably just slit my throat as soon as I fell asleep if I didn't have Cato to protect me.

I didn't respond. Not one word. I just walked away from her, too. She and Cato deserved each other. Maybe people from their district were just taught how to be jerks from a young age, it seemed that they had plenty of practice with treating people like crap.

"Are you ready to listen to me yet, or are you still having a bitch fit?" Cato was back to being his wonderfully patronising self. Oh, joy.

"Bitch fit," I didn't even bother looking at him, I knew one look at him and I'd forget all my anger, all my hurt, and forgive him. But he didn't deserve that. He'd have to earn my forgiveness. Hell, how many guys back in my district would never even look at another girl again if it meant one little chance with me? I may not be the most modest person in the world, but still. I'm not a bad catch, really. Or so I thought before Cato decided to share the little matter of him and Clove being an item only a week ago.

Cato rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "You have no reason to even be angry, you know? I didn't even know you when I was with Clove."

"That's what you came here to tell me?" I glared at him, using every ounce of willpower to keep a look of anger present on my face.

"Well, yeah? What else could I have said?" Typical bloody guy. Not even one little shred of common sense, of compassion, of how to apologise.

This time it was me who rolled my eyes, "Nothing, Cato. Nothing at all. You were right, I was wrong."

He actually looked relieved. Obviously he'd missed the sarcasm practically pouring from my words. Very intelligent, Cato. Then he didn't look quite so sure of himself, "So, we're good?"

"Just peachy, Cato. But next time, try and find 'comfort' in something else. Maybe a sponsor will send you a teddy to cuddle, okay?" My words my icy cold, perfectly matched with my expression, as I shoved past him before I did something I would probably regret later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story, or added it to their favourites!**

**I'm having a lot of fun writing this so far but, in saying that, I'm also finding it increasingly difficult to stay in character, so please, if you have any criticism (constructive please!) I'd love to hear what I can do to improve on the story, or if you've got any suggestions for where I should go with the story, I'd love to hear them! Mostly I'd just like to be told if I'm straying from the true personalities of the Careers. I'm doing my best, but with so little to work with, it's a little hard!**

**I'm not looking to write another fluffy or OOC story, there's more than enough on here. While I do love the combination of Glimmer and Cato, I don't believe it would have been an easy match. I believe they would have had issues, as I'm presenting throughout my story. Whether or not they get back together, well, you'll have to wait and see!**

I woke in the fetal position in a clearing of the woods, the place I'd ended up at, with no memory of actually getting here, after my last 'conversation' with Cato. If you could call it a conversation anyway. I was done with boys like him. There were plenty of nicer guys than him out there. Plenty of guys who would treat me like I deserve to be treated, and who I don't have to kill, or watch be killed, in order for my own survival. Let's face it, Cato and I never would have worked, one of us was sure to die in the next few days. Strangely, as angry as I was, the thought stirred a feeling of panic inside me. I had been expecting relief. The less guys like Cato around, the better. But apparently I still cared. How utterly frustrating!

The night, as usual, was bitterly cold, and I'd fallen asleep without my sleeping bag, so I was all but frozen to the ground where I lay. It took a few minutes for the blood to start circulating so that I could actually stand up, and search for a source of warmth. This was pretty much the first night in the arena that I'd been as cold as I was now, Cato and I had almost always shared our body heat. Besides, it was nice to have that... bond with someone here. I was already feeling the effects that distancing myself from him was having. Loneliness. I'd never been lonely like this before. I'd never been forced into my own company like this. Back in district one, I was 'queen bee'. I was popular, and always surrounded by family, friends, boyfriends. This, being alone thing, was weird. And it hadn't even been a day. Can loneliness kill someone? That would be a pretty boring way to die, tragic actually. Especially considering I survived those stupid tracker jackers that fire girl dropped practically on my head. I'd make her pay ten times over for what she did. I will probably be scarred forever from all the stings. She'd want to hope they heal nicely before I find her. Or else.

The fire at the camp had burnt down into nothing, just red hot embers, but it was still warmer than nothing. I didn't want to go and get my sleeping bag for risk of waking Cato, and having to deal with the issues now. Only, he didn't seem to think there was anything to deal with. He thought we were okay. Silly, naive, Cato.

The fact that I hadn't heard any canons was a fairly good indication that neither Cato or Clove had killed each other in my absence. Maybe they'd kissed and made up. Literally. Ugh. The thought repulsed me.

It became clear pretty quickly that I needed my sleeping bag, if I wanted to survive the night, and not become a human icy-pole. Maybe if I was quiet enough, Cato wouldn't wake up. Fingers crossed.

Cato was indeed asleep in the tent he and I had taken to sharing, my sleeping bag laid out as it had been the night before, even though we'd both slept in his. His breathing was soft, even. He looked almost childlike. Not like Cato. Cato never looked peaceful. I wonder what made him the way he is today? I know the training centres are tough, apparently two more so than one, but still. Cato seemed to eat, breathe, sleep the desire to kill. Clove too, now that I think about it. Only Cato's desire is made much more apparent, whereas Clove just seems to be sadistic by nature.

The tent's so warm, maybe I should just sleep in here. I actually couldn't bear facing the weather outside again. Each night was getting colder and colder, like they wanted to start killing off tributes from hypothermia. That one year when the arena was all ice, and there was no firewood, was particularly boring. Almost everyone froze to death within the first three days, usually at night. After that, the few that were left were too weak with frostbite and such to put up much of a fight. They wouldn't make that mistake again, surely?

I considered dragging my sleeping bag over to Clove's tent, but didn't like my chances of waking up at all. There were too many ways she could kill me in my sleep, most of which were painful and gruesome as she'd made sure to tell me from the first moment we'd met. "Hey, I'm Glimmer." A sadistic smile, then "I'm Clove. I can kill you one hundred different ways with a single knife." Well. Maybe not exactly like that, but not much different.

Outweighing the pros and cons of sleeping in here, with Cato, took a few moments of standing awkwardly in the doorway, shivering against the wind, drawn towards the warmth inside.

Finally, warmth outweighs all else, and I settle into my sleeping bag, as far from Cato as possible. As angry as I am, furious actually, I have to fight the urge to curl up right next to him. Instead, I settle on glancing at him. Drinking in the pure innocence of his features, relaxed in his sleep. Wishing I could somehow capture this image, other than in my memory where it will end up distorted and hazy as time goes on. Assuming I make it out of the arena alive. If not, it will be the last thing I think of at deaths door.

When I wake, I feel warm, and comfortable... and so... safe. So safe. I almost forget where I am. Only for a moment. Then it hits me. Cato, in the night, has gravitated towards me, and is now pressed up against me, his arms locked tightly around me. Whether he did this consciously or not is unknown, but it doesn't really matter. It's like he can't understand why I feel the way I do, why I'm reacting as I am. And if he can't then what's to say something like that won't happen again? There I go again, assuming that he and I could make this work, but for trust. Forgetting the little issue of one victor. One. And there are two of us. But right now, that seems irrelevant next to my current state of mind.

"What the hell are you doing?" After a moment of enjoying the closeness, the affection, it's time to make him understand.

Cato stirs, stifling a yawn as he glances around the tent, his eyes coming to rest on my face, "Glimmer?"

"Don't 'Glimmer' me! Get off!" I shove him away, and as he is still half asleep I am actually able to move him. Something I have never achieved before. Granted, he doesn't move quite as far away as I like, but at least now he isn't right next to me. I can't hear his heartbeat, or feel his breath on my neck.

Now he looks angry, "What was that about? You came in here, to me!"

Yes, that is true. I can sort of see why he took it the way he did.

"Because I was freezing out there!" I shoot back, my voice straining with frustration. It's like bargaining with a two year old really.

"Well, I thought it meant we were okay, forgive me for making assumptions!" Cato is now being sarcastic. Never a good idea to be on the receiving end of his sarcasm. And yet, I can't help myself from trying to make him angry. Well, more angry.

I laughed openly, "Oh please, don't flatter yourself, Cato."

A look of hurt flashes across his face, so briefly I almost miss it, then something else takes over. Something that makes him immune to hurt, to pain, to any form of emotion besides anger, fury, and other similar feelings.

His eyes flash dangerously, just the way they do before he plunges his sword into a victim, not to kill, but to wound in the most painful way possible, "Oh, I won't, Glimmer. This tent is all yours. I'm sure Clove will have me back in hers."

Ouch. He may as well have slapped me. Actually, I would have preferred it. What he said cut deeper than any sword ever could. Who the hell did he think he was? Some God-like creature? Unbelievable. I'd show him just how little I need him. I don't need anyone. Least of all that jerk.

I laughed sadistically, "You two deserve each other, Cato. I hope she makes you really, really happy." Then I turned and fled, not wanting him to see me cry, but by the time I stopped running, my eyes were dry. I was not going to cry over some idiot. No, I was stronger than that. What was it they taught us in the training centre? You can only trust yourself. I'd never realised before just how true that was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! Just a quick note that I won't be posting the next installment until I get a few more reviews. So many people are saving the story to their favourites, but I'd much rather get reviews! If there's something I need to improve on, or that you'd like to see happen, please let me know! :)**

Was there any point in keeping up with this 'happy families' charade? Probably not. Cato and Clove had taken to sharing a tent, and doing who knows what all night. Probably for the best that I didn't know what. The thought of his hands on her body, his lips on hers... it made me feel sick. If I knew for sure it was happening... I don't think I would handle that too well. I was slightly possessive with the boys who I considered to be mine, and Cato happened to be one of those. Somehow, I don't think he would care about what I thought. He was probably just glad to have someone to hold at night, both for warmth and comfort, to have someone to kiss, and of course, to satisfy his desires. Obviously he had the same needs as other men, being in a televised arena didn't change that, and it certainly hadn't slowed his advances to me. I hadn't resisted though, doing it on national television was much more exciting, exhilarating even. Now he had Clove, maybe because she was better than me? I was fairly certain Clove would have taken her knife to bed, and maybe that was what really got him going. Maybe that was the edge she had over me. I guess I wasn't 'exciting' enough. Boring old Glimmer. Not that I'd ever been told I was boring before, in fact the complete opposite had often been spoken of me. I was experienced, I knew exactly what I was doing. Maybe Cato just had different needs.

The alliance would need to be broken soon anyway. The pool of living tributes was decreasing every day, and while we hadn't made a kill in a couple of days, we assumed the others were at least entertaining the Capitol with their poor efforts to survive. We were yet to see fire girls face in the sky so we knew she was alive, and when we did find her, she was mine. Cato thinks that he had claimed rights to her at the beginning, but if he thinks I'm going to hand her to him on a silver platter he's kidding himself. I didn't want it to come down to Cato, Clove and I. If it did, I was sure that they would pull together, and I'd stand no chance. Maybe I'd be able to hold my own against one of them. But not both. I wasn't even going to pretend that it was possible.

I had a tough decision to make, stay and relish in the temporary safety of the 'career pack', or try and survive on my own, with more chance of killing that district twelve bitch, if I could find her before Cato. There was also the tiny bonus of being around Cato, but was that enough reason to stay, when he had clearly replaced me? I had to leave, even if just to protect my bruised ego. Leaving in the middle of the night was probably the best idea, I wouldn't have to see Cato, to say goodbye to him, to see him for what would most likely be the last time. I may be strong, but that may test my limits. I'd probably throw myself at him, ask him to choose me over Clove, to let things go back to how they were. Ugh. How pathetic.

"What are you doing?" A demanding tone broke through my thoughts as I began packing a few supplies into a backpack; not much, but enough to survive.

I glanced up, "Nothing."

"Don't bullshit with me, Sparkles." I saw the flash on a knife as she twirled it in her fingers, the blade catching the moonlight. That knife never, ever left her hand. She even slept with the handle clutched in her fist, ready to kill at anytime. And Sparkles is what she'd taken to calling me all the time. It's like she doesn't even know what my name really is, that or she just doesn't care... probably the latter, actually.

I ignored her, zipping the bag firmly closed after I'd slipped my last bottle of water in there. So, this was it then. Time to try my hand at surviving on my own.

I turned, hoping that Clove had wandered back to her tent, leaving me in peace. No such luck. Of course not.

"So, you're leaving?" She stood facing me, hands on hips, a strange expression on her face that I wasn't quite able to read. It wasn't sadistic, like her usual smirk, but it wasn't a very friendly look either. On second thoughts, it was dangerous. Uh oh. My weapons were packed, my bow and arrow out of arms reach. Maybe this was her killing face? I thought about screaming for Cato, but I didn't want him to see me die, especially not at Clove's hands. I'd die with dignity. I wouldn't scream, and I certainly wouldn't let her see my pain.

I stepped back, "Yes."

"And how does Cato feel about this sudden change of events, Sparkles?" The knife twirled again, and she ran her finger along the blade, testing for bluntness, but by the look of satisfaction on her face there wasn't any.

When I didn't answer, she spoke again, a nasty smirk now spreading across her face, "Oooh, so he doesn't know? How interesting. Well, I suppose I really should tell him now, shouldn't I?"

"Go ahead, if you want. I don't care," I was bluffing, and I'm sure we were both well aware of it.

"CATO! CATO!" Suddenly she started yelling, and I knew I had to leave now if I didn't want to face him.

Just as I grabbed my bag, Clove grabbed my arm, "Oh no. Don't even think about it, Sparkles."

My attempts to escape from her grip were futile, she was a lot stronger than me, and I'm sure she would have put her knife to good use had I put up a decent fight.

Then Cato appeared looking disheveled from being woken in the middle of the night, but I still found him incredibly sexy. I felt a pang in my chest as it hit me just how much I really did miss him. Why had it taken me this long to realise it?

"What the hell, Clove?" So he hadn't woken up on the right side of the bed... or rather, sleeping bag.

Clove smirked even more, "She was leaving, I thought you may like a chance to... say goodbye." She jerked her arm, and therefore my arm, towards him, shoving me forward the last couple of steps.

"Leaving? To go where?" This question was directed at me, but I was too busy clutching my arm, the arm Clove had pretty much torn from the socket. He looked almost sad. Maybe it was confusion. Or maybe he was just concerned about all the sleep he was missing.

"It's come to my attention that three is a crowd in this little alliance. Being a third wheel isn't my style," the words came out harsher than I expected, and I almost apologised for it. Luckily I bit the words back just in time.

Cato turned to Clove, "Give us a minute, would you?"

The smirk quickly fell off her face, and she snarled, "What, and miss all the fun? Not a chance, lover boy."

"I mean it, Clove. Piss off! Now!" His tone was so demanding that she actually obeyed. With a nasty look over her shoulder, she stormed off to her tent swearing the whole way.

He watched Clove to make sure she'd actually gone into the tent, and then turned back to me, "What do you mean 'three's a crowd'?"

I rolled my eyes skyward, "Seriously? You and Clove? How did you expect me to react, Cato?"

At least we were talking. We'd exchanged more words in the last 30 seconds than we had in the past two days.

"Me and Clove...? No, Glimmer. No... you've got the wrong idea. There is no me and Clove," the way he said it almost caused me to believe him, but there was that tiny bit of doubt in my mind. Maybe there always would be that doubt. I sure hoped not. But I just couldn't shake it.

"You're sharing a tent with her, Cato! You've barely left her side the last two days!"

Cato shook his head, "Glim, I'm sharing with her because I've been trying to give you space, I thought that's what you wanted?"

Ooh. Maybe he did get it. Maybe he was dealing with it in the way any boy would? I wanted to throw myself into his arms more than anything. But would that be a mistake? I just wasn't sure what to do. I was at a complete loss.

"...Really?" I couldn't be a bitch to him anymore. I just couldn't do it.

He stepped forward, placing his hands on my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes, "I promise."

I think we were both a little surprised when I didn't flinch away from him. But after a moment, I stepped away and returned to my tent. I decided to stay, at least for tonight, to work through some of the thoughts in my head. It probably wouldn't be very safe to go traipsing through the woods at night, without paying full attention to my surroundings... which I wouldn't be. Not until I had a chance to think about everything. My shoulders, where Cato had touched me, were tingling until I fell asleep, and the last thing I saw when I closed my eyes was his beautiful face, and I pretended that he was curled up beside me, instead of Clove.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to all who have reviewed or added the story to favourites! It means a lot!**

**I will be moving the rating to 'M' for both language, and perhaps future sexual mentions, as that has been requested by a couple of readers. If, for some reason, you'd rather this story stay as a 'T' rating, please let me know. I'd hate to lose readers for language/potential smut.**

**Thanks! xx**

Sleep wasn't my friend that night, I slept fitfully, tossing and turning, only managing a couple of hours at a time, if I was lucky. I'd always been fond of my beauty sleep, even though I didn't need it as much as others, particularly Clove...that girl could absolutely use a few extra hours of sleep.

I'd finally drifted off, only to wake to the sound of arguing coming from outside my tent. On second thoughts, it sounded like it was coming from Cato and Clove's tent, which would make sense since they were the ones arguing in heated whispers. Obviously I wasn't meant to be able to hear them, but they certainly hadn't mastered the ability to whisper quietly. But then again, what did those two ever do, that wasn't announced at top volume?

"Come on, Cato," Clove's voice had taken on a seductive quality, she was practically purring at him. I could feel the bile rising in my throat.

"No." At least Cato sounded like himself, that was a relief.

I moved closer to the side of my tent, straining my ears to pick up what they were saying more clearly. This may be by one chance to find out what they actually do at night, but I swear, if they start going at it, I will slit that little bitches throat. I don't care what Cato says.

"But Cato, who says we can't have some fun while we're here?" That whine was like fingernails running down a blackboard, almost unbearably annoying.

"Stop it, Clove. We're not like that anymore, I told you that!" Cato was obviously starting to get as irritated with her as I was. Maybe he'd kill her, and I wouldn't have to mess up my manicured nails with her blood. Especially as it would take a whole lot of effort to scrape the blood from under them once I was done.

I heard a zipper then, "Put your jacket back on, Clove. It's cold."

So she was trying to seduce him. Hah. Taking off her clothes wasn't going to do her much good. I was sure Cato liked his women to look like... well... women. And not under-developed twelve year old kids with no curves, and flat chests. All of which Clove could tick the boxes for.

"So you like that prissy little bimbo then?" I could actually hear the snarl in Clove's voice. Her words were dripping with venom.

Cato would have to tread carefully if he wanted to live through the night. Clove wouldn't hesitate to put a knife through him. I knew that for sure.

"Her name is Glimmer, you know that." Cato's voice now held as much venom as Clove's. Uh oh. This was going to end badly for at least one of them. Especially because I knew they both slept with their weapons within reach.

"And does 'Glimmer' know how to please you, like I do, Cato?" Clove's voice was dangerously low now. She was trying to be seductive, but it wasn't quite working for her. Almost like watching a cute little bunny trying to scare a lion, it's embarrassingly uncharacteristic.

"Stop it, Clove." Cato's voice was pleading now. He was smarter than I'd given him credit for. Clove was his district partner, after all. He knew better than to actually piss her off. I could imagine her twirling one of her beloved knives as she glared at him.

"I'll take that as a no then, shall I? You and I share the same... lust... for blood. I know what you need, Cato. I'm sure Sparkles doesn't quite know how to... handle you."

Then I heard the unmistakeable sound of a knife slicing open flesh. The same sound that would usually send adrenaline coursing through my veins, that would excite all of my senses, made me want to vomit. As much as I wanted to pretend that I'd heard something else, I would know that sound anywhere. I actually had to stuff my sleeve into my mouth to stop from crying out.

"Fuck off, Clove! For fucks sake, you just don't get it!" Cato was now screaming in fury. Obviously she had cut him. Where, I wasn't sure. But it didn't matter.

I could hear Cato storm out of the tent, throwing things around in a fit of rage, and I resisted the urge to go and see if he was okay. I didn't want them to know I'd heard the altercation, for fear of repercussions from Clove. She'd kill me, literally, if she found out I'd heard Cato blatantly reject her advances. Besides, I didn't want to talk about it. What I'd heard was still causing my stomach to churn unpleasantly, and I was fighting to hold on to my dinner. I certainly didn't want to throw up in my tent, let alone in my already matted hair or on my blood/dirt/mud stained clothes. Yuck.

Cato sounded like he was right near my tent, so I quickly pretended to be asleep as he zipped open the flap, peering inside.

"Glimmer?" The anger gone from his voice now, he sounded almost... scared. So out of character that I actually rolled over and looked up at him, rubbing my eyes as though I'd just woken up.

"What?" He was clutching a rag to his chest, but I could see it was already soaked in blood. His blood. It took every ounce of strength not to lose the contents of my stomach.

"Have you seen the first aid kit?"

I sat up, brushing the hair out of my face, and nodded, "I'll show you."

Maybe the fresh air would ease the nausea, I hoped so anyway. Cato was bleeding pretty badly. I wondered what Clove was doing, but quickly erased the thought from my mind.

"Have you been awake long?" Cato suddenly asked as I sat opposite him, with the first aid kit open in my lap. I translated this into, "What did you hear?"

I hesitated, deciding it best to ignore the question until I couldn't see Cato's blood flowing down his chest. I grabbed a clean-er rag than what was currently being held to the gash, and pushed his hand out of the way. Oh man. It was bad. Worse than I thought. Taking a deep breath, I dampened the rag with a little water, and wiped away as much blood as I could. It actually looked better once the excess was cleaned up. I could work with this.

"Glimmer?" His voice broke my train of thought, just as I was rifling through the kit to try and find something... anything... to try and stem the blood flow.

"Not now, just let me... focus, please," my voice was quivering, I sounded weak. Wonderful. I'm a career tribute, and I'm having trouble dealing with a little blood? Just freaking wonderful.

I frowned as I focused on what I was doing, and Cato's hand found my forehead, smoothing the crease from my brow gently, "I'm sorry."

I shook my head, but didn't say anything. I just wanted to focus on this, and go back to bed. And pretend that tonight had never happened. Somehow I didn't think that it would be possible, but I'd try. Tonight was just a horrible, horrible nightmare, and I wouldn't remember it once I woke up.

A needle and thread in the kit caught my eye, "Cato? I'm going to have to stitch it..." Yup, I was definitely going to throw up now. Why was I cleaning up that little brats mess? Oh right. Cause I cared about the mess she'd created. Damn it.

His face visibly paled, or maybe it was just a shift in the moonlight. But he nodded, and whispered through clenched teeth, "Okay."

"Any preference in colour?" I forced a flirty smile as I held up a black thread, along with a pink and a blue one.

His face relaxed into a smirk, "Your choice, but I don't think pink is my colour..."

"I beg to differ, but I like blue... matches your eyes," I tried to keep the smile on my face as I threaded the needle, and pushed it through the wound.

He hissed in pain, and I glanced up, a smirk playing on my lips, "Not so tough now, huh, pretty boy?"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he clenched his teeth each time the needle pierced his skin.

"Oh, I intend to." I finished the final stitch, and cut the thread. Then I noticed. I noticed the half-moon of stitches holding the cut together. The 'C' shaped cut.

Clove had marked him. Nothing that girl ever did with a knife was accidental. She'd purposely marked Cato with a 'C' – her initial. It was a warning - to me, or to him. I wasn't sure who, but that seemed irrelevant. My eyes moved over his bare chest, and I noticed a range of crescent-shaped scars adorning his, otherwise smooth, flesh. Was this some sort of sick game? Was this something he enjoyed as well? I hoped not. Clove was more sadistic than I'd given her credit for. For the first time, I actually feared her. Obviously I wouldn't let that show, though. Nothing worse than a fearful career. I swallowed hard against a lump forming in my throat, and wiped my face of emotion.

Cato looked down, admiring my handiwork before I covered it with a bandage. "Thank you."

I nodded, and stood, exhaustion aching every muscle in my body.

"Wait," Cato reached for my hand, forcing me to look at him, "We need to talk... I know you heard..."

"I don't want to talk about it." I couldn't bear to listen to him explain what I had heard. I knew what I'd heard. I didn't need to hear about it again.

He hesitated, letting my hand drop, "If you're sure."

I almost walked away, then I remembered that we had two tents; I had one and Little Miss 'Sunshine' was in the other. "You can sleep in my tent if you want."

Cato looked relieved, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I held a hand out to him, and he took it gratefully, not letting go until we were back in the tent.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! I'm really not happy with this chapter, but it was sort of necessary... and I couldn't work out how to fix it, so sorry about the mess!**

**I'm still uncertain of whether to add smut scenes to this story. Please let me know what you'd prefer!**

**There is a bit of language in this chapter, that was also necessary!**

My eyes fluttered open early the next morning and focused on Cato, who was sleeping peacefully in my tent, before I had time to convince myself that the events of the night before were all a really bad dream. I reached out to smooth back his hair just as I noticed the caked blood on and under my nails. Cato's blood. Needless to say, I barely made it outside before I violently threw up everything in my stomach, and even when there was nothing left to come up, I dry retched until I collapsed on the ground in a shaky, sweaty mess. I sat there gulping air, trying to even out my breathing, until I stopped trembling and was able to stand.

I walked to the lake as quickly as I could, dropping to my knees, and scrubbing my hands with a bit of moss. It took a long time, but eventually all the blood was gone. Then I got a good look at myself in the reflection of the water; pale skin, dark purple bags under my eyes, mud caked on my cheeks and forehead, and my hair... my hair was knotted, matted and had twigs, leaves, dirt... blood... coating it. Somehow, it was still mostly contained into two braids, but it was disgusting. I was surprised Cato could even stand to look at me. I couldn't bear to look at myself. Hygiene is something I consider to be very important... I certainly couldn't live in a poorer district where they only bath once a week... and here I am looking like a homeless person. A homeless person who is covered in blood. Gross. Completely gross. The murky lake water was no warm bubble bath, but it was all I had to work with so I scrubbed myself as clean as I could, hoping the whole time that some nice sponsor would send in some soap, maybe some shampoo. But, of course, no such luck.

Scrubbing the blood out from under my nails had brought out a desire to kill, I could feel my fingers itching to deliver the final blow to some poor, defenseless tribute. To watch the hot, thick blood run out of their body, over my hands, into the grass. As long as the blood wasn't Cato's, I didn't care where I got splattered with it. Hell, I'd deal with killing Clove if we didn't hunt out any tributes today. Goodness knows that girl deserves whatever comes to her after what she did last night. I made a promise to myself that I'd mark her with a 'G' right before I watched the life drain from her. Fair's fair, right? If I was feeling particularly brutal, I'd sign my full name, and make sure that each letter was perfect by taking my time dragging the sharp blade across her flesh. The thought brought a sadistically spiteful smile to my face. Oh, Clove. Just you wait, honey.

I'd just decided to check on Cato's stitches, when I noticed Clove perched on a low branch of a tree overlooking the lake. Her knife, typically, was in her hand, but she was rubbing it clean with a clump of moss. Probably cleaning off Cato's blood. She did look pretty pleased with herself. I seriously wanted to hurt her. The desire was so strong, all I could see was red as I glared up at her.

"What the fuck are you looking at, Sparkles?" Clove practically spat the words at me from her place in the tree. The look of contentment that she'd had on her face while cleaning her knife had disappeared, and in its place was the most obnoxious sneer I'd ever seen.

I guess I had been staring. Oh well. I can stare at her if I want to.

"You know what, honey. I'm done with your little attitude. It's about time you realised that you come across as pathetic and immature... not all scary like you think." I knew that I was going to pay very dearly for my words, but I was caught up in the moment. She could kill me, she probably would have even if I'd kept my mouth shut.

Clove jumped from the tree, landing gracefully on her feet, the sneer ever present, "Excuse me?"

I resisted the urge to take a step back, but I held my ground and crossed my arms, "You heard me, sweetheart."

Clove stepped forward, twirling her knife threateningly in one hand, the other hand clenching like she was fighting the urge to punch me in the face. I was actually surprised that she hadn't hurt me yet, I'd never known her to have so much self-control. "I know I did, sweetheart. I was just giving you a chance to apologise."

"Apologise to you? Not going to happen. But maybe you should go and apologise to Cato!" My voice rose and cracked at the end of my words, but thankfully my expression didn't falter.

"For what? Showing him that I can do things for him that you never could?" Her glare now replaced with a smirk, she took another step towards me. I was now within reach, she could punch me without trying. But still, she didn't touch me.

I rolled my eyes, and turned on my heel, ready to walk away, "You're even more deluded than I thought, Clove."

Then I felt a hand grab my arm, and I was forced back to face her. A knife now held to my throat.

"Oh, Sparkles. I really didn't want to have to kill you yet," her face was so close to mine that specks of spit were landing on my face as she spat each word at me, each word spoken so sweetly yet carrying so much venom.

I wanted to scream for Cato, but she would kill him as well if she had too. If I was going to die, he had to win. I wanted him to be the victor. Not Clove. Not the girl who was about to end my life.

I struggled against her, but she dug the knife deeper into the skin until I felt a trickle run down my neck, and I knew the skin had broken. This wasn't the way I'd planned it. "Let me go, Clove!"

"Oh, no, no, no. Not a chance, Sparkles. I'm going to put on a good show, I owe that much to Cato." She pulled the knife away from my throat, quickly replacing it with her hand, squeezing the air from my body. I guess at least this was more peaceful than her cutting me limb from limb. I knew the knife would reappear soon, I'd seen her kill enough to know she liked to play with her victims. Unfortunately it was me that was the victim this time.

I couldn't gulp in enough air to speak, her grip on my throat was too tight. So I was to die in silence.

As I knew it would, the knife flashed in front of my face but I couldn't focus on it. My mind already blurry from the lack of oxygen. I waited for the sharp pain that would indicate that she'd start her sick little 'game'.

I saw the knife as she brought it down to my face, the sharp tip digging into my lip, the metallic taste of blood running into my mouth, "We'll start with that pretty little face of you, would you like to blow Cato one last kiss?"

I wasn't going without a fight, I just didn't want to die like this. Especially not at Clove's hands. I shoved her with all my strength, and I must have surprised her because she hit the ground with a soft thud. Now she was beyond angry. She was going to make my death as painful and drawn out as she could. If the Capitol thought they were in for a good show before... well, they were in for quite a treat now... assuming Clove got me in her grip again.

It was a moment of clarity for me. If I ran, there was a very good possibility of receiving a knife in my back, but if I stayed to fight... could I survive?

I threw myself forcefully at Clove, pinning her to the ground as best I could, trying to work out how to overpower her. But really, she had a knife, and I had nothing. I had to get the knife, that was my only chance. No way was she going to let me have it though. That knife... she valued it above all else. She probably had a name for it. How twisted.

I pinned her wrists down under my boots, putting enough pressure to make them crack and bruise, but not quite enough to break. I could see her wincing in pain.

Good.

"Get the fuck off me, you bitch!" Clove was struggling with all her strength, and she was very, very close to overpowering me. I wasn't as strong as she was, despite all my years of training. Hand to hand combat had never been a skill of mine.

I just needed that knife, and I could slit her throat, and it would be over. But the knife was clenched in her fist so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Give me the knife, Clove," I knew she'd never hand it to me, but I wanted her to think I had the upper-hand, when really, while she had the knife, she held all control. I didn't have enough strength to strangle her, the knife was the only way.

She spat in my face in response. How lovely. I guess I'll take that as a 'no' then.

I wiped my face with the sleeve of my jacket, placing a bit more pressure on her right wrist; the one she clutched the knife in. I heard a crack, and she swore profusely in pain. I knew it wasn't broken, it was probably sprained. And still, the knife was in her possession.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am SO, SO sorry for the delay in posting this. I wrote this chapter a while ago, then changed it back and forth so many times. Bleugh! I hope everyone likes this chapter! :)**

As much pressure as I was placing on Clove's wrist was past mattering. She'd reached the place where pain didn't exist. I knew that place well. It was something we, as Careers, were all taught in training. Taught is a loose term really, it was actually beaten into us. Literally. Beaten into us until it was the place we were convinced was our 'happy place'. No, we didn't have paradises with sunshine and rainbows... our place was just a place free of pain. As a Career... well, feelings are banned and pain just happens to be a feeling.

Something silver flashed in my peripheral, and for a second I thought it was another tribute. A tribute who was using our temporary moment of being too caught up in killing each other to their own advantage. Coming to pick us off now that we were distracted. I tried to think of whether any of the still alive tribute had weapons but I was pretty sure they didn't... unless some sponsor had sent them something, which I doubted.

Any tribute stupid enough to walk into what was essentially the Career bloodbath deserved to die in an extremely slow and painful way, I was even sure Clove and I could settle our differences long enough to have some fun.

I was sure my mentor, Cashmere, wasn't happy, Clove's probably wasn't either. The Career bloodbath was supposed to happen at the end. The 'finale' of sorts. Not only were there too many weaker tributes still alive, but it was way too early in the games for the Careers to kill each other off. We kept the games interesting for the whole duration, what would happen if we all died before all the tributes from the outlying districts did?

I needed a different tactic. I tried wrenching the knife from her fist, but she suddenly snapped back to reality and held it tight. I had my hand wrapped around the handle, carefully avoiding the blade, but so did she. I was too focused on trying to pull the knife from her that I let my grip on her wrists slip and I knew I was about ten seconds away from dead.

Something moved to my left and I wondered if there really was a tribute there. Were they waiting until either Clove or I was dead, hoping the one left would be so injured they could be killed easily?

Clove flipped our positions so that now I was being pinned underneath her, and I knew that I was being featured on screens across Panem. Whenever a tribute is near death they receive a lot of air-time. The Capitol were in for quite a show, a much better one than what they had probably first anticipated.

She wasn't going to risk my escape by playing anymore games, she was down to business this time.

Grabbing the collar of my jacket, she jerked my head up only to let it fall roughly back to the ground. A way to show me who was boss, and it certainly wasn't me. Not anymore.

Unfortunately my head connected painfully with a rock on the way down, and I felt the slow, steady trickle of blood running down the back of my neck. Little black dots appeared at the sides of my vision and I couldn't focus on Clove properly anymore. My vision was swimming in and out of focus. One second there was one Clove, the next there were two.

I actually feared the Gamemakers had sent in a muttation of Clove, just to make my last few minutes the most painful of my life.

The knife made it's appearance by pressing firmly into the soft skin of my throat, but the boom of a canon in the distance distracted Clove long enough for me to force her back to the ground. I was not really in much of a state to fight her, I was trying to pin her down for as long as I could but then what? What happened when I got tired?

Then I felt strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me quickly into the air and shoving me out of the way just as Clove jumped into the air, wielding the knife.

Cato. Strong, handsome Cato.

"Put the knife down! Now!" Cato ordered, stepping in front of me, obviously more than prepared to suffer a few stab wounds to save me from the worst of it. I wondered how long I had until she killed him, and turned to me. Could Cato really protect both of us, without a weapon, against Clove who had her weapon of choice?

Clove smirked and rolled her eyes in one smooth motion, "Yeah, right, lover boy. Move the fuck outta my way, and let me have some fun."

"You know that isn't going to happen, Clove."

She pouted, she actually stuck her bottom lip out, "Come on, Cato... you always liked watching me with a knife..."

I felt Cato shudder in front of me, and I placed a reassuring hand on his back, surprised when he flinched away from me hissing quietly under his breath, "Don't!"

"Put the fucking knife down!" Now angry Cato had some out to play. Maybe Clove would actually listen to him...

"You've changed, Cato. You're no fun anymore," Clove whined, but threw the knife at his feet and it landed in the soft mud next to his boots, and stormed off. The look on her face told me all too clearly that it wasn't over. Sooner or later, she would get to have her fun. I shuddered at the thought.

Cato turned to me, noticing the blood smeared all over my face. In fact, there was so much blood he would've had a hard time finding where it was coming from. He gripped the tops of my arms too tightly, I gasped quietly in pain but it went unnoticed as he brought his face close to mine. So close that I could see the anger in his icy blue eyes."What the fuck, Glimmer?"

I shrugged hesitantly, I really wasn't sure what had just happened. One thing I was sure of was that I had survived. Somehow, I had survived.

"She's not going to let this go, you know that?" Cato squeezed my arms even tighter, shaking me with every word he hissed. I could feel the bruises already forming as he forced me to look at him, trying to convince me of what I already knew.

I was in trouble. Big. Trouble.

"I know, I know."

But did I really? Did I really know just what I was up against?


	9. Chapter 9

**I am so, so sorry for the delay in posting this. The last few months have been brutal. My best friend was murdered several months ago and I just couldn't cope with anything, let alone writing this story. Please accept my apologies and I hope this was worth the wait. As always – please review.**

I was in a complete world of pain. It engulfed my entire body from my bruised arms to the gash in the back of my head to the aching muscles in my legs. Every noise was causing my head to throb, the sunlight burning into my vision. The thought of dying like this, like some outlying district trash, forced me to pull myself into a sitting position slumped against the base of a tree.

They were yelling at each other, screaming words I had never even heard of before as well as every colourful profanity I had ever had the pleasure of saying or hearing in my life. There was finger pointing, chest poking and general intimidation which, surprisingly, seemed to come mostly from the smaller tribute. Maybe the taller tribute was aware of what the little brunette was capable of and knew better than to provoke her too much, something maybe I would have benefitted from learning earlier on in this sick game.

Even in sitting a safe distance from the two I felt my nerves being stretched to their absolute limit. I was highly on edge, fidgeting as much as I could without really moving too much. Mostly I just felt a general fear weighing me down. The terror sitting in the pit of my stomach. I was sure that either myself or Clove would never see another sunrise. One of us, possibly even both of us, would have to die tonight. My instincts were telling me that I would be the one to die, to be transported back to my family in a wooden box, but I didn't have the strength to flee. Not that we Careers ever flee; we simply evade danger that is more than what we believe we can handle, or at least I do. I honestly believe Clove and most probably Cato would rather die in battle than to run and survive. Must be that brutal district 2 edge that we district 1 citizens have been told about. It's one thing to hear about it, another to see it in action.

Cato stomped a few feet towards me before hurling a small black bag at me, "Clean yourself up for fucks sake!"

Nice. Gone was sweet Cato and in his place was a snarling monster. It was such a huge transformation that had I not known better I would probably try to convince myself that I was having a terrible nightmare. Then again he was from district 2. I had known that from the start. Why was I really so surprised? District 2 was famous for supplying the most vicious, bloodthirsty killers of any district. This determination to win, no matter the cost, must be why they crown the most victors.

The bag that had landed near my left thigh turned out to be a tiny first aid kit. I quickly popped a few pain killers in my mouth and chugged down some water, hoping to hold down the contents against my churning stomach. I dug through the rest of the bags contents finding not much of any use to me apart from an antibiotic healing cream which I smeared over the back of my head. The throbbing in my head started to diminish the second I swallowed the pills, as well as much of the ache in my body. I could move now still with a bit of general achiness but much more freely than a minute earlier. I took a large piece of gauze and wet it with my water bottle wiping the blood and dirt from any exposed skin, realising quickly that much of the stiffness in my neck was from the dried patches of blood coating it.

I was stretching each muscle in my body slowly when I felt all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something was wrong, all my instincts were screaming at me. My instincts had been very finely tuned in the training academy, I could sense things that no ordinary non-Career ever could.

There was nothing out of the ordinary that I could see, Cato and Clove were still screaming viciously at each other but I expected that they would be for quite a while yet. No other tributes would be stupid enough to approach us with those two about ready to kill one another. So what then? The sun was still out which in the games generally meant safety from any of the gamemakers 'games', they tended to save those for night when visibility was nil and so was the chance of survival.

The arena began to slowly get darker even though it was much too early for nightfall. Something was definitely going on. I heard the crackling heat of destruction mere seconds before I both saw and smelled the danger. Smoke. Flames. Fire.

Cato and Clove were too engulfed in their argument to pay attention to their surroundings. Big mistake. One that would probably cost both of their lives. I had a second or two of a head start but even my life was hanging in the balance.

Thankfully when I leapt to my feet I managed to stay upright, clinging to the trunk of a nearby tree for balance so tightly that I could feel the bark embedding itself in my palm. If I fell, or lost my balance, I would die. There would be no time for correcting myself, or getting back to my feet. Either the flames would disintegrate my entire body or the smoke would burn my lungs from the inside out.

I was screaming for Cato, even for Clove, but the sound was muffled against the hand I had clamped over my mouth in terror. They wouldn't have heard me anyway, the flames were licking towards the edge of our camp and the sound was close to deafening.

As much as I hoped for Cato's survival I couldn't be sure that either of them were even still alive. I would never hear a canon, or two, in this chaos.

The smoke had quickly formed a thick blanket that was covering everything. I could no longer see the tree I was still clutching. It was burning into my eyes, my lungs. My throat ached as I tried desperately to suck in a breath of air that wasn't contaminated.

I needed to move but the terror of the situation had frozen me to the spot. My head was beginning to throb again and my vision was blurry. I hadn't been prepared for this – to survive a fire. I knew how to dodge a knife thrown from a distance, to avoid the fists of another tribute, but not this. I only hoped that there would be something left of my body to return to district one that resembled who I was before I died.


End file.
